Love

Beautiful Justice, Scandalous Love

by Andy Wood on April 22, 2011

in Life Currency, Love, Photos, Tense Truths

A man was brought into court for trial and found guilty.  The judge happened to be a close boyhood friend of the accused, although they had not seen each other for many years.  Remaining impartial, the judge sentenced the defendant and levied a penalty – a fine – appropriate to his crime.  The fine was so large that the accused could not pay it, so a jail sentence seemed to be the only alternative.

The judge then did a very unusual thing.  Leaving the bench, he approached the convicted man, shook his hand, and announced, “I’m paying the fine for you.”  There in the courtroom the law was satisfied, and so was love.

Beautiful justice.  Scandalous love.

What a picture of the cross.

At the wonderful, tragic, mysterious tree

On that beautiful, scandalous night you and me

Were atoned by His blood and forever washed white

On that beautiful, scandalous night.

The ultimate intersection:  two beams connected, the vertical and the horizontal.  One pointed to God, one reached out to man.  And there, suspended between heaven and earth, the Prince of Glory was judged in love.

The ultimate paradox:  how could something so ugly be so beautiful?

The ultimate collision:  sin met grace.

The ultimate demonstration:  the love of God and the sin of man.

The ultimate betrayal:  thirty stinking pieces of silver for the life of the Son of God.

The ultimate rejection:  unconditional love, hammered through with nails.

The ultimate ransom:  innocent blood for guilty humanity.

Beautiful justice.  Scandalous love. [click to continue…]

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A Heart Made Glad

by Andy Wood on April 19, 2011

in Five LV Laws, Life Currency, Love, Principle of Abundance

To know I can rise to the dawn of a new day,

Having surrendered my fatigued sorrows to a night of rest…

To see my hope ascend with the sun

And feel the comfort that only Your presence can provide…

This is the story,

This is the song

Of a heart made glad by love.

 

To hear the sound of laughter in places reserved for mourning,

Knowing the troubles are lighter lately because You carry my load… [click to continue…]

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The Satisfaction of the Soul

by Andy Wood on March 16, 2011

in Esteem, Five LV Laws, Life Currency, Love, LV Cycle, Principle of Eternity, Waiting

Somewhere in the places where sighs give way to hope and promises sing to aching hearts, your soul waits for something different.  More than the pleasure of a passing moment or those 15 minutes of look-at-me, you were created with a craving soul.  “He has planted eternity in the human heart,” Solomon said, “but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.”

One day – sooner rather than later – that craving will be satisfied.  And not by what the pavement is made of or what the real estate market is like past the pearly gates.  Not by something that resembles Sunday morning at the church house, Monday noon at the White House, or Friday night at the penthouse.  Craving souls are smarter and deeper than that.

One day – nearer rather than farther – tired hearts, stale relationships and flyblown religion will give way to a new dawn.   And at long last your soul will taste satisfaction.  Ashes will give way to beauty.  You’ll trade your mourning in for the oil of joy.  You’ll wear a garment of praise – complete with dancing shoes – instead of a spirit of heaviness.  In the satisfaction of the soul… [click to continue…]

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Dear Shepherd

by Andy Wood on March 9, 2011

in Life Currency, Love, Photos

We welcomed you into a world that you have already become a part of – but now we’ve finally met.  And though I have only held you once, you already occupy a place of deep connection, belonging, and love in my heart. 

Today, March 9, 2011, the world can be a scary place.  As a newborn American citizen, I’m sorry to tell you that you already owe more money than you can repay in your lifetime – most of it to people who don’t live here.  The Communist government in China wants to take over the reincarnation process (I don’t even know where to start with that).  And a bully in the Middle East is clinging to power, whatever the cost.

But while the future is uncertain, it is no more so than the world our Lord Jesus entered two thousand years ago.  And His life, death, and resurrection casts a much greater beacon of hope than the shadows of a fearful world could ever compete with.

You have been born into a loving family, who has established their home first and foremost on a steadfast love for God.  You have the unique distinction of having a big sister – and if anyone was ever born for the role, she is.  [click to continue…]

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Image of the Anointed

by Andy Wood on March 2, 2011

in 100 Words, Life Currency, Love, Photos

…the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land.

Arise, come, my darling; my beautiful one, come with me (Song of Solomon 2:12)


Be like the dove, He said… [click to continue…]

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The Lovely Moment

by Andy Wood on February 28, 2011

in Five LV Laws, Following Your Passion, Life Currency, Love, LV Cycle, Photos, Principle of Eternity, Time

One of Friday's Lovely Moments -Cohen's first haircut, and I got to BE the front-row seat.

Nobody has to convince you that life is busy and blazes by at the speed of, well, life.  Expressions like, “Where did all the time go?” are the stuff of every-day conversation.

Sometimes that can feel painfully lonely as we emerge from the grindstone and wonder where everybody went.

Sometimes that can feel out of control as we are swept away by the rhythm and melody of somebody else’s music.

And yet…

And yet…

Even in the craziness, the busyness, and the where’d-it-all-go, life has a way of presenting what Roger Breland calls a Lovely Moment  – those experiences where even if for a brief pause, life seems to come up for air and fill your heart.

Sometimes the Lovely Moment arrives in the form of a long-anticipated event, like your wedding day, graduation, or the birth of a child or grandchild.

Sometimes the Lovely Moment comes as a complete surprise, when suddenly you realize how full your heart is because of a special memory, a future conversation played out in your mind, the joyful news of a friend, or a reminder somehow that you’re being thought of.

The Lovely Moment can be an elusive thing, but only because we’re too busy, too wounded, too stressed, or too blinded to open our eyes and see them.  The truth is, Lovely Moments are in abundant supply… [click to continue…]

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The Winds of Change

by Andy Wood on February 18, 2011

in Enlarging Your Capacity, Five LV Laws, Hoarders, Life Currency, Love, LV Alter-egos, LV Cycle, Principle of Increase

I have a friend who doesn’t do change well.  I have another who aches for it.  Strangely enough, they both find themselves routinely responding in the same ways.

Both are fiercely loyal, probably to a fault.  They will cling to relationships, to institutions, even to ideas long past what most people would consider healthy or normal.

Both are very deliberate in the ways they go about making decisions – to the point that life sometimes barges in and makes the decision for them.

Both have dreams that seem to escape them while they wait for the circumstances to improve… which they never seem to do.

Interestingly enough, both are people of great faith.  These are not casual Christians.  They are heart-deep in a pursuit of God’s best for their lives.

They also have their differences.  One pushes himself to grow, to stretch, to improve – only to find out the ladder he was climbing was leaning against a bombed out building.  The other refuses to consider that if she keeps doing the same things, she’s likely to get the same results.

One will analyze a situation to death without ever taking action, then analyze what happened when the action took him.  The other will react to situations on the basis of emotions, but typically they’re feelings of fear or regret.

Meanwhile, the winds of change just keep on howling.  To one it feels like a blowing rain.  To the other it feels like a mocking tormentor. [click to continue…]

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Life Shapers

by Andy Wood on February 5, 2011

in Ability, Life Currency, Love

I have a friend who makes me funny.  Not makes me laugh.  He makes me funny. As in Night-at-the-Improv, bust-a-gut hilarious.  I hear myself say things to him I wish I could remember later and somehow capture the moment.  

There are plenty of times when I do OK by a crowd and generate a smile or two.  But this guy takes me to a whole other place.

How does he do it?  For starters, he has a very rewarding laugh – one that boldly proclaims, “I think you’re funny.”  He also anticipates the fact that I’m going to make him laugh.  He’s always on the edge of another crack-up when we talk.  On top of that, he tells other people how funny I am.  The laughter we have shared has forged a unique identity I step into whenever we talk or get together.

I have another friend who makes me wise.  As in Child-of-Solomon, guru-deep profound.  [click to continue…]

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First Snow

by Andy Wood on February 3, 2011

in 100 Words, Life Currency, Love, Photos

Something charming about the word, “first.”

We remember first loves, first cars, first dates.

 

Sometimes we remember what others can’t – like first birthdays, first steps…

And yes, first snow.

 

The first experience of anything significant

Carries a unique mix of curiosity and delight… [click to continue…]

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Living in Light of the Limits of Time

by Andy Wood on January 19, 2011

in Allocating Your Resources, Consumers, Five LV Laws, Life Currency, Love, LV Alter-egos, LV Cycle, Principle of Eternity, Time

Quick question:  What would you do if you knew that you only had 30 days to live the life you now have?  After that, your will life will be completely redefined. 

You aren’t dead – just relocated.

Every relationship:  history.

Every past accomplishment:  strictly a thing of the past.

Every possession:  soon to be somebody else’s.

Maybe, for the sake of playing out the fantasy side of the question, it’s a witness relocation effort or something.  But regardless, the clock is ticking, and life as you know it is drawing to a close.

What would you do?  Who would you do it with?  How would you approach the growing, grim reality? [click to continue…]

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